Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

 

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,

fabulous, talented?  Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of the Spirit.  Your playing small

does not serve the world.

 

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that

other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of the Spirit

that is within us.  It is not just in some of us;

it is in everyone.

 

And, as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. 

As we are liberated from our own fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

 

-Marianne Williamson

 

 

This quote was used by Nelson Mandela during his 1994 inaugural speech.